MARGOT

Tell us who you are, where you’re from and what gets you out of bed in the morning.

I am Margot, a French girl from the Franco-Swiss region where french writer & philosopher, Voltaire spent the last years of his life. Together with my partner in life and at work Julian, we recently moved to sunny Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. I sleep with the blinds open so that I wake up as the sun rises, usually to the thought of a slow early morning, drinking mate, (the traditional Argentinian drink, featured in pictures) with Julian, and the joyful opportunity to share the mission of The Pastel Project.With Conscious living on the rise there is now an abundance of Eco bloggers teaching people and showing them how they can live a more eco lifestyle. We love that you live this kind of lifestyle. Describe your style of living and how you implement sustainable living into your day to day lifestyle.

A conscious lifestyle is about understanding the choices you’re about to make and being deliberate in all your decisions. This involves both sustainability and ethical perspectives.So, implementing a sustainable living into a day to day life is thinking and choosing for the long-term. Fashion wise, I buy fewer but better quality. I mainly choose brands that create products with a purpose that is either good for workers, communities, the environment, or if possible all of those. Beauty wise, I use fewer products and put on greener make-up and cosmetics. In terms of food, I choose a plant-based diet that is good both for my health and our planet. I try to always buy in bulk. I seek to reduce the waste that I may produce by refusing anything disposable. I bring my reusable tools with me everywhere I go, and I select products with less packaging or none. Altogether, these actions help me to reduce my carbon footprint for a better circular economy. “Less is more”- It seems very simple doesn't it! Describe the Less is more concept in your own words.

I think it’s about Seduction. What seduces is often not actually there. When I speak of seduction, I don’t necessarily mean it with sexual connotations, but more like any kind of appeal. There has to be space for imagination. I often think that’s why art galleries are usually completely white, and it is certainly why minimalism has become so present in the last 50 years, not only in the arts, in all fields, especially in design (home design). Simple things transmit a feeling of peace and calm, and that comes with taking things slower and consciously enjoying the important things in life more. The more obvious thought is that it is about quality, not quantity, in all aspects of life. When it comes to materials, it’s about taking care and appreciating what we already have rather than jumping into the rat race of having more and better. The subject also makes me think of color saturation. It’s hard to look at a photo that is too saturated. It’s too much. Most people don’t like it when something is too much, and a lot of people only realize it after getting carried away with things thinking the more, the bigger, the faster, the better. Have you ever gotten that feeling of something being too much and therefore being overwhelming? What I basically mean by all this is that not only the planet would appreciate more a little less of everything, but also our souls. The concept is about cleaning our physical and mental space, and there is a thin line between knowing what we truly need and what we just want, and today’s advertising strategies do not help. In the end it’s a question of mindset and finding the right balance for ourselves.Where do you see The Pastel Project headed in the future?There is always room for improvementand we want to continue inspiring as many people as possible to live a more sustainable life. For that reason, we are working on the idea of sharing men's fashion and self-care. What’s your number one go to Eco product? (It can be anything!)The first go-to eco product that comes in my mind right now is the 100% compostable flax straw waste based iPhone case from Pela.

Being naked is the #1 best sustainable option. Eco and fair clothing is the #2 best sustainable option.